People are leaving compliments all over San Francisco and making others smile

Updated 1:46 pm, Thursday, November 17, 2016

Student Yamil Chambers, 17, comments on #thecomplimentproject signs that have been appearing in San Francisco.

Media: Chris Preovolos

Kindhearted souls are leaving compliments all over San Francisco this week and making others smile.

The simple signs, printed on 81/2-by-11-inch white paper and taped onto lampposts, feature positive, feel-good messages: "Your Smile Is Beautiful," "You Bring Joy to Those Around You" and "You Are Perfect as You Are."

Signs from #thecomplimentproject have been popping up around San Francisco.

Signs from #thecomplimentproject have been popping up around San Francisco.

Photo: SFGATE

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Signs from #thecomplimentproject have been popping up around San Francisco.

Signs from #thecomplimentproject have been popping up around San Francisco.

Photo: Yan Budman

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Signs from #thecomplimentproject have been popping up around San Francisco.

Signs from #thecomplimentproject have been popping up around San Francisco.

Photo: Courtesy Anna Sergeeva

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Signs from #thecomplimentproject have been popping up around San Francisco.

Signs from #thecomplimentproject have been popping up around San Francisco.

Photo: SFGATE

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Signs from #thecomplimentproject have been popping up around San Francisco.

Signs from #thecomplimentproject have been popping up around San Francisco.

Photo: Courtesy Anna Sergeeva

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Signs from #thecomplimentproject have been popping up around San Francisco.

Signs from #thecomplimentproject have been popping up around San Francisco.

Photo: Courtesy Anna Sergeeva

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Signs from #thecomplimentproject have been popping up around San Francisco.

Signs from #thecomplimentproject have been popping up around San Francisco.

Photo: SFGATE

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Signs from #thecomplimentproject have been popping up around San Francisco.

Signs from #thecomplimentproject have been popping up around San Francisco.

Photo: SFGATE

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Signs from #thecomplimentproject have been popping up around San Francisco.

Signs from #thecomplimentproject have been popping up around San Francisco.

Photo: Compliment Project

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Signs from #thecomplimentproject have been popping up around San Francisco.

Signs from #thecomplimentproject have been popping up around San Francisco.

Photo: Compliment Project

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People are leaving compliments all over San Francisco and making others smile

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They're designed like the charmingly old-fashioned signs tacked on coffee shop bulletin boards, advertising violin lessons or cat-sitting with phone numbers hanging from the bottom that you can tear off and take with you.

Only in this case, you can pull off kind words to keep in your pocket or pass on to a friend.

The signs are the brainchild of S.F. local and Good Samaritan Anna Sergeeva, 26, who started what she's calling the Compliment Project to spread good cheer. On her website, you can download compliment posters and print them to post in your own neighborhood.

The idea is catching on as a Reddit user spotted a sign at Third and Mission on Wednesday, and people chimed in that they'd seen them at Market and Front streets, in the Noe Valley neighborhood, throughout the Mission and on Rhode Island and 16th streets.

"I happened to receive one from a kind stranger, made my day," wrote Reddit user spinach33.

And word is spreading in other parts of the world as Sergeeva says she has heard from people in LA, Colorado, New York, Israel, London and France who are plastering their neighborhoods.

"I did this in response to everything that's been happening in the U.S. and the sadness and fear and I wanted to do something positive in my community," said Sergeeva who first posted signs around S.F. with some friends on Sunday. "When I was sharing the idea with friends in other countries they really liked the idea and that's when I decided to create the website."